Sen. Claire McCaskill sworn in

Second term

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Moberly Monitor-Index - Moberly, MO

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Posted Jan. 7, 2013 at 1:00 PM

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Posted Jan. 7, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Missouri

Claire McCaskill officially began her second term as U.S. Senator from Missouri on Thursday, after being accompanied to the Senate chamber by fellow Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, and former Missouri Senator Jean Carnahan, to take the oath of office.

"I pledge to use these next six years to keep fighting as hard as I know how for the state that I love," said McCaskill, a former Jackson County Prosecutor and Missouri State Auditor. "I plan to fight for new opportunities for my kids and grandkids, and for all young Missourians—to create more jobs, and continue my dogged effort to bring down the national debt. And any politician or contractor tempted to waste taxpayer dollars for their own benefit should be on notice—if I have it my way, these next six years will see a new level of accountability in government."

In 2006, McCaskill was the first woman elected to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate. She became the senior Senator from Missouri in 2009 upon the retirement of Senator Kit Bond. She took her second oath of office today, administered by Vice President Joe Biden.

Since taking office, McCaskill has taken a leadership role in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government—particularly in the area of government contracting, where she identified tens of billions of dollars of waste and then successfully passed legislation to better protect taxpayer dollars. She has also led the effort to eliminate Congressional earmarks, preventing billions of dollars in pork projects from being authorized.

Widely regarded as the most moderate member of the United States Senate, McCaskill has been ranked 50 out of 100 in annual rankings of members of Congress from liberal-to-conservative by the nonpartisan publication National Journal. She has consistently joined her Republican colleagues to find nonpartisan solutions to cap federal spending, and reduce regulations on Missouri's farmers, ranchers, and small businesses.

McCaskill was resoundingly reelected this past November, winning her race by more than 15 percentage points—the biggest margin for a Missouri Senate candidate in nearly two decades—and earning a larger number of votes than any other candidate in Missouri in 2012.